Results of Observation
So far, the earliest sighting of the crescent was on Friday 22 June from Iran The crescent was also seen on this day from Saudi, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Germany and USA.
Friday 22 June
- Malaysia: ICOP member, Mr. Kassim Bahali said: "I tried to see the hilal but the western sky was cloudy. The hilal was not seen. First of Rabae' thani begins on saturday 23 June 2001."
- Brunei: ICOP member, Mr. Mahadi Mohamad Tahir said: "We have failed to sight the crescent for two days ie on 22/6/2001 and 23/6/2001. It was cloudy and rain respectively."
- Iran:
- ICOP member, Mr. Saeed Janghorban mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.
- ICOP member, Mr. AliReza Mehrani mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.
- ICOP member, Mr. Asadollah Khoddam Mohammadi mentioned that it was cloudy.
- ICOP member, Mr. Amir Hasanzadeh mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.
- ICOP member, Mr. Hamid Rahkooi mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.
- Saudi: ICOP member, Mr. Saleh Al-Saab mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.
- Jordan: JAS has organized a special observing night for the crescent. Several Jordanian ICOP members went to the western part of
Amman. The crescent was firstly seen by binoculars one minute after sunset, later on it was easily visible by naked eyes. The
observers were: Hani Dalee', Sana'a Abdo, Basma Dyab, Moh'd Odeh, Tarik Al-Bishawi, Firas Khames, Bassam
Abu-Naba'a, Tarik An-Naser, and Ghassan. Other observers from other sites reported seeing the crescent by naked eyes,
such As Tarik and Mohammad Katbeh from Madaba, and Khaled Tell from Swealeh.
- Algeria: ICOP member, Mr. Bankih Bankacem said: " The crescent was observed during six minutes between clouds."
- Morocco: ICOP member, Dr. Hamid TOUMA said: "During the official News-TV on Friday 22 June 2001, The Moroccan
Gouvernement has annonced that the Crescent of the Moon was seen
within the Morocco aera so the first day of Rabe'a Thani is :
Saturday 23 June 2001 in Morocco.
It is a good decision which is in concordance with the astronomy
observation.As you know that the New Moon was on 21 June 2001 at
11h 58 mn (UT)and it was a total eclipse of the sun in the South of
Africa (Angola, Zambia, Mozambic, and after the Sunset on the same
day (22 June 2001) it was impossible to observe the Crescent because
it has only 7 hours 30 minutes, but on the day after (23 June 2001
the Crescent has 31 hours of life so it was logicaly visible in the
region where it was not clouds in the sky."
- Kenya: ICOP member, Mr. Mahmood Essa said: "I regret to let you know that owing to cloudy weather, I was not able to observe the crescent last Friday evening. However, Saturday 23/4/01 was the first day of Rabee' Thani in Kenya."
- Nigeria:
- ICOP member, Dr. Sani Mustapha mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.
- ICOP member, Mr. Aminu Lukuman said: "The crescent did not appear on friday(22/06/2001) in Lagos Nigeria due to the thick cloud. I saw it on saturday (23/06/2001). Meanwhile, friday(22/06/2001) after magrib, is chosen to be the begining of the first day of 'Rabiu Thanni' in Nigeria."
- ICOP member, Mr. Usman Dukku said: "I saw the crescent at local sunset, between two large clouds,with five other observers but it disappeared behind the clouds after about twenty minutes."
ICOP member, Mr. Isiaq Alabi said: "Tried to see the crescent on 22 June but due to clouds it was not possible. Whereas the Crescent was visible a few minutes even before the sunset on 23 June. First day of Rabeeul Aakhir began on 23 June 2001 according to official calendar."
- Bosnia and Herzegovi: ICOP member, Mr. Kemal Sehbajraktarevic mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes. He said: " Officially, first day of Rebiul ahir in Bosnia start yesterday at sunset, but according to the mooncalculator it should be at sunset this day (22.06.)."
- Germany:
- ICOP member, Mr. Gerhard Ahmad Kaufmann mentioned that he saw the crescent by naked eyes.
- USA:
- ICOP member, Mr. Gulamabbas Khakoo said: "This evening of Friday June 22nd, sighted the crescent for the month of RABII-ul-THANI in Buena Park, California. Local time approx. 20:25hrs. Sighting was very easy and clear. May Allah S.W.T accept our prayers and guide us on the right path. With Salaams and Dua's".
- ICOP member, Dr. Muhammad Hafiz said: "I LOOKED FOR THE CRESCENT IN DADE COUNTY, OPA LOCKA,
FLORIDA ON 22TH, JUNE 2001, AT SUNSET. THE HORIZON
WAS OBSTRUCTED BY RAIN CLOUDS, ACCOMPINED BY THUNDER
STORM AT SUNSET, MAKING CRESCENT OBSERVATION
IMPOSSIBLE. I REMEMBER READING FROM ISNA'S DECISION TO STICK TO
LOCAL SIGHTING FOR ALL 12 MONTHS IN NORTH AMERICA,
THAT IT WAS STATED THAT, IN A RESEARCH CARRIED OUT BY
US NAVAL OBSERVATORY, 15% OR 15 PEOPLE OUT OF 100;
WILL CLAIM TO HAVE SEEN THE CRESCENT ON A NIGHT WHEN
IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO BE SEEN. TELLING THIS FACT TO
MUSLIMS IN FLORIDA WHO FOLLOW SAUDI ARABIA; THEY
QUESTION IF THE INVESTIGATORS OF THE RESEARCH WERE
MUSLIMS. SINCE ALL OF YOU VARIFY CRESCENT SIGHTING IN NORTH
AMERICA AND YOU HAVE THE NUMBERS AND DATA, MAYBE YOU
CAN BACK TRACK AND CALCULATE, WHAT PERCENT OF THE
MUSLIMS MAKE AN ERROR IN RESPECT TO THE CRESCENT; SO
WE CAN HAVE SOME NUMBERS COMMING FROM MUSLIM
RESEARCHERS AND ASTRONOMERS. HAVING THESE NUMBERS, AND
PUBLISHING IT IN THE FORM OF AN ARTICLE WILL HELP
MUSLIM TO SEE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM AND WOULD
STIMULATE THEM TO ALWAYS VARIFY SIGHTING WITH
ASTRONOMICAL INFORMATION. CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW
IN WHAT WAY I CAN HELP TO BRING ABOUT, THIS ARTICLE.
MAY BE YOU CAN SUPPLY ME WITH THE NUMBERS OF ERROR, #
OF CORRECT SIGHTING AND TOTAL CLAIMS OF SIGHTING FOR
EACH MONTH IN QUESTION AND EACH YEAR BACK, SO I CAN
WRITE THE ARTICLE."
